Friday Ephemera (740)
It’s a big, deep funk machine. || “But you can’t be drooling,” said the cross-dressing pervert. || Apocalypse digs. || Callers in the night. || It has 140,000 neurons. || Neptune. || Incoming. || Outgoing. || Daring escape. || Garden seat of note. || Theremin sink. || Yours for £575,000. || Flyless. || Hefty cuts. || Hinges of note. || Those runaway Honda blues. || “I’m riding a bike, I have more rights than you.” Cause and context. || Hers is bigger than yours. || Questionable covers of 80s synth pop, including a steel-band version of Gary Numan’s Cars, and a soul version of Eurythmics’ Sweet Dreams. || Pick a percentage. || Well, yes, people died, but what about her stuff? || Amsterdam’s transport revolution, 1974. || Today’s word is modernity. || And finally, in comparison, how was your day?
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Tar and feathers. Deportation to Somalia.
[ Cancels travel plans. ]
It’s racist to arrest a black criminal, or even to stop her.
John Derbyshire’s advice comes to mind.
Yet another reason to avoid newer vehicles.
“Art Nouveau is when it looks made by elves. Art Deco is when it looks made by dwarves.” (via Cdr Salamander)
The computer didn’t even have the courtesy to say “I’m sorry Dave, I can’t do that.”
It was a Pilot, not an Odyssey.
It was a Pilot, not an Odyssey.
OK that made me laugh – I needed that. I am still trying to figure out what went down in the car wreck video, and then that idiot goes and sticks his head in the mangler.
You ask me, Nouveau is far better. It’s got tendrils.
Outgoing.
I’ll never eat Skittles again for the rest of my life.
“Callers in the night“
Urban Londoners complaining about foxes digging up their lawns can now just stop…
“Hers is bigger than yours.“
Some kind of puppet – they don’t get that big.
‘Fancy a night out at the opera, liebchen?’
Did he win the contest to be the world’s most annoying human being?
Morning, all.
It’s a wooden pallet, it’s an electric guitar.
This is my innocent face.
Can’t see the driver’s citation holding up. He clearly showed caution near the cyclist, and there’s no evidence he was within 3 feet.
That should piss off the cyclist even more, which is good.
AI videos have the potential to really screw things up. How does a court of law, for example, determine that video evidence is real? How does a news outlet?
Watching the exchange, I found my mind entertaining ways in which his jaw could be broken. Not proud of the fact, particularly, but it’s what happened.
The needless saga concluded with the cyclist, Mr Peacock, receiving a $160 fine for disorderly conduct, and the driver, Mr Kempton initially being given a citation for passing too closely, which would have resulted in a $130 fine, based solely on the cyclist’s claims. This was subsequently dropped when the driver’s dashcam footage, which tells a different story, was reviewed.
What’s interesting, I think, is the almost comical difference in attitude. Mr Chill meets Mr Head-Full-Of-Crazy-Beans. In the video above, the driver says he feels sorry for the cyclist being cited for disorderly conduct, despite the cyclist’s dishonesty and irrational behaviour, and even though at the time he felt in some danger. As one might when confronted by someone belligerent and neurotic, a raving fantasist.
Just watched the video. Totally understand.
The cyclist, Mr Peacock, goes out of his way to generate conflict, repeatedly, then descends into some paranoid fantasy, in which he is somehow both the victim and hero.
It would rather test one’s self-restraint.
Okay, that was funny. I’m going to save that one and play it to my wife. 🤣
Don’t forget the hour-long livestreams. I’m sure she’d appreciate those.
Actually, maybe she will. If she has a liking for electro-jazz-funk with touches of swamp gas and intestinal burblings.
And hey, who doesn’t?
[ Cranks up volume, does funky strut. ]
MMM. Pine scented meat.
How does a court of law, for example, determine that video evidence is real?
Same way they do now. The recording hardware writes checksums and one-way hash codes into the video stream based on an identifier that’s unique to the recording device.
AI just makes faking video faster. It’s always been possible, and the industry has already evolved ways to prevent it.
Current mood:
What?
If you make it through the subsequent videos, linked in the thread, you’ll discover, among many other things, madam’s extensive history of dangerous and illegal driving, one excuse for which being that she was “going downhill.”
And, needless to say, a great deal of boggling leniency from the authorities, despite an obvious and eye-widening pattern of behaviour.
Don’t all cars, even those with the latest computer gewgaws, also have an emergency brake?
I’d love to see an exchange between Peacock and Camille.
[ Rolls single Cadbury’s Mega Button along bar to Stephanie. ]
[ As it rolls, fluff accumulates. ]
There is an AI tag above the image.
Ssshhh. Act casual, say nothing.
Regarding the swamp-gas music.
Note his expensive-foreign-automobile corporate-logo cycling clothing.
Also note his hand-made Italian Pinarello bike.*
‘Cause you can’t get proper exercise for less than a $15,000 outlay.
* Well, most of their models are hand-made, according to Wikipedia.
Betcha the cyclist has a solid reputation for being an asshole in his social and professional circles: aggressive and nasty except when he thinks he needs to pretend to be civilized in order to get something.
Mr Peacock is, it turns out, not a poor man.
Though I suspect his reputation has taken something of a hit. 8.5 million views and counting.
It’s a wooden pallet, it’s an electric guitar.
Super Chikan will see your pallet and raise you a shotgun, a ceiling fan, a jerry can, or whatever else he has lying around.
The quiet part, out loud.
Note his expensive-foreign-automobile corporate-logo cycling clothing.
He probably doesn’t know that SAAB auto division is owned by GM, let alone that SAAB is more well known for their defense products (like fighter planes) and their former big Gaia raping diesel trucks.
Though I suspect his reputation has taken something of a hit.
Between California, Park City, and Portland, I suspect the opposite as the crowd he runs with will probably see him as another victim of The Man™, #defundthepolice.
Democrat?
Heh. It does rather capture something of the type. The utter unreality of it. As I was watching, I was fascinated by the cyclist’s sudden detours into fantasy, the wild construals of what was actually happening.
Someone should write a paper.
Or beat him with a stick until the demon leaves.
But look at the aeronautics-related slogan on his clothing.
Virtually certain, given his second home in Portland.
50% / 3 strikes. You don’t get to 3 strikes by accident.
Life was better when people kept their perversions behind closed (and in some cases barred) doors.
It’s bloody stupid is what it is.
[ Continues listening to swamp-gas music. ]
What’s really turning the frogs gay.
Public service announcement.
More displacement activity. Or, how to avoid addressing the actual problem.
It looks like the lions broke the gate but did not notice it stood open.
When they confess how much the ladies room excites them, believe them.
FT
For those who may have missed it.
Our betters move their mouths.
There’s a lot of that going around.
No neurons involved.
New How-Dare-You discovered.
Why not just ban pictures entirely? Surely they’re tied to oil, capitalism, and patriarchy in one way or another.
Either that or blind these much-too-sensitive-to-live poseurs.
In the absence of a racial element (unless it was that the cyclist had enough control of his accumulated road rage to take it out on an ideologically safe target) it all seems quite wholesome: mean old Mr Peacock thinks Andy Hardy is a jalopy-driving galoot with no respect for his elders, but it’ll all get smoothed out in time to put on a show for the kids in the orphanage.
It’s on page 27 and not page 1, the authorities are handling it as a road rage incident and not a hate crime, the White House hasn’t commented on it, there are no interviews with the kid where the TV people put on their profound concern/empathy faces, no New York Times articles about driving while Black or cycling with Whiteness.
Mr Peacock is socially punished, the articles celebrating his philanthropy now with comment sections speculating about his declining sexual powers, but Antifa isn’t at his house, his family isn’t disowning him, and his business and charity associates aren’t releasing statements disavowing any connection.
Off topic but: one thing that angry POC do not get is how hard successful people work (whether from India or China or native US/UK). My neighbors may have a few people over for birthdays etc, maybe 10 cars at most, once in a while. You do not see groups of men “hanging out” or going to the “club” till all hours. Guys paint their own house often and do their own repairs. Some work 2 jobs. The people you see are walking their dog or going for a health walk or jogging. It is hard to get ahead. It is harder if you are a knucklehead
How about banning pictures of people? There are eccentrics who think taking a photograph steals the subject’s soul.
I’m tempted to ask what happens in a selfie situation. I mean, does the phone itself steal your soul, even when you’re the one taking the photo, or does the soul-stealing process have to involve another person?
I ask because, if nothing else, it would explain much of Instagram and TikTok.
He even looks like a stereotypical commie.
I wonder to what extent he believes the bullshit he utters. For many leftists, truth is whatever serves the current needs of the revolution.
I believe the camera itself steals the soul, at least based on my occasional “interactions” with such goofs in years past. It would be entertaining to question such people about this, but I curtailed social interactions with such nuts many years ago.
What does it do with them? It’s not like cameras house imps in need of feeding.
[ Looks at phone. ]
Apparently, I can store 512GB. How many souls is that?
I’m not, by the way, knocking people who are comfortable using the word soul in a theological sense. (I see no satisfactory way to refute the proposition, even if I were inclined to try.) I’m just knocking people who think that cameras can steal them, or eat them, or something.
Though, again, Instagram and TikTok…
Apple already owns their souls
How many souls is that? To be precise, a metric buttload,
I haven’t seen any comments (sorry if I missed any) about how appropriately named Mr, Peacock happens to be, Even if it’s an alias, Or maybe, especially if it’s an alias. Was he destined to become a howler monkey due unfortunate choices by his forebears? Questions, I have so many.
[ Slides half-used roll of single-ply toilet paper down bar. ]
No charge. On the house.
Umm . . . which half?
In the subsequent thread (to the original chart), someone quips:
Which, even as a joke, probably tells us something about where we are.
Um, OK if I tuck the used half in the bowl with the toenail clippings? You could always keep it to use as a wick when lighting off the coats in the alley…waste not, want not.
It is an article of faith among liberals that you do get there by accident–except when you get there by racism.
[ Looks at phone. ]
All my interactions with such people were well before the advent of smart phones. I do wonder what they now think about internet-connected smart phones: Do those stolen souls get uploaded into “the cloud”? And do they see that as an ascent into heaven, descent into hell, abduction into limbo, or what? An interview with them could be quite entertaining.
@David, who pointed out:
It is worthwhile pointing out that the people who’ve fought against these “Three Strikes” laws always find the edge cases wherein some worthy has been put in prison for what they consider some piddling reason, like stealing a video tape. The way they work is “Waily, waily, woe… Poor, poor Mr. Smith, he’s had a hard life…”
What they never bring out is that Mr. Smith has been adjudicated as having a “Third Strike” for something he was caught and convicted for; there are almost certainly dozens, if not hundreds of crimes that he wasn’t “caught” after committing them. The thing they always fail to grasp is that the usual crime someone finally gets jail time for is the merest tip of the iceberg; Mr. Smith has been out there eroding public life for a long time, probably his entire life. So, when you catch him for “merely stealing a video tape”, that represents the very tip of a lengthy tail. Putting him in jail for life is likely to result in a considerable reduction in the overall crime rate.
Not to mention, they always seem to ignore the usual progression of crimes: If you put a three-time felon into jail for something minor, that means you’ve short-circuited the almost certain progression from petty criminal acts to those that “really matter”, like armed robbery.
This whole thing is a vast Skinner Box, and they fail to comprehend it. The system of criminal law doesn’t exist to provide some ideal of “perfect justice”, but to serve as a system of behavioral modification. You’re trying to dissuade people from behaving in specific ways, and you have to ensure that you’re sending the right signal, cuing the right behavior… You let someone get away with petty crimes like shoplifting, you’re rewarding criminal behavior and encouraging it such that they’re going to progress on to bigger and better things. If you don’t deal with the minor crimes, you’re going to have to deal with that same criminal when they commit “bigger” ones, like armed robbery and casual murder.
This is the point that these well-meaning numpties fail to comprehend: The “Three Strikes” laws are a recognition that Mr. Smith is effectively beyond behavioral modification, and must be separated from decent law-abiding folk lest he go even more feral. It’s not “justice”, it’s behavioral modification, and when you demonstrate that your behavior can’t be modified? Well… That’s why we country folk usually put down dogs that have taken to chasing stock; they’re generally irredeemable, and beyond “help”.
The criminal “justice” system is not a true “justice” system, operating to provide some idealized fantasy of rightful outcome. The reality is that it exists to serve as a curb on the criminal behavior of people, and to prevent “the rest of us” from simply slaughtering those who behave so via vigilante actions. We surrender jurisdiction over criminal behavior to the state only so long as the state does a reasonable (not perfect…) job of curbing and correcting criminal behavior. If not, then the same recourse farmers take when ill-mannered dogs belonging to misplaced city folk start chasing the stock for their entertainment.
Mr. Peacock’s first name is Drew
I’ll never eat Skittles again for the rest of my life.
The dog is lucky to be alive, those things weren’t Skittles, they were Orbeez, tiny balls that expand in water – it only pooped out about 25% of them, the rest had to be surgically removed.
@pst314, who said:
It gets so much worse:
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GZoXsONWkAEX2Fw?format=jpg&name=small
The left is fond of edge cases in so many areas: One of my favorites can be summarized as “You are Islamophobic for pointing to widespread religious bigotry and oppression as reasons to worry about immigration from such countries as Pakistan and Egypt. Why, look at my perfectly pleasant neighbor who is from Pakistan.”
My preferred warning: “Caution: Morons and savages may be offended”.
“You’re definitely a Virgo.” No. “Gemini?” No. “Taurus?” No. And so on.
I’ve known idiots like this. And nothing fazes them.
Lindsey has apparently run out of pronouns.
Just for the hell of it: Critical Drinker a year ago: The Myth of the Modern Audience
“Social scientists call this an indirect indicator.”
@pst314,
Here’s a tip, one that I learned the hard way when moving around the country while in the military: If you want a quick insight into a community or neighborhood, go around and take a look at the parking lots of the supermarkets and other stores.
Are there carts abandoned everywhere? Do you find carts empty, far away from the store?
Or, are the carts all neatly put back into their corrals, not abandoned willy-nilly?
If you find the first, do not chose any housing in that neighborhood. If you find the second, you can likely have a nice life in that area.
It’s that simple; if the locals are so disorganized and grabtastic that they don’t return carts, and behave as though they were animals? You don’t want to live amongst them.
Isn’t a racial thing, either, although it does have a tendency to line up with depressing congruence.
I’ve even encountered that attitude among libertarians.
I have mixed feelings: “Potatoes better than human blood for making space bricks”
Our nations are ruled by delusional 13 year old girls.
@David: Grounds for deportation?
Those racist exam questions
It will certainly be of great comfort to those trapped in a burning building to know their fire department is diverse.
Given most applicants have been taught using Common Core it’s not surprising they would find that question daunting.
[…] a state of mind in which they furiously defend something that they know is false.
Every right implies a duty. As written, these declarations of human rights impose a duty upon wealthier nations and individuals to spend without limit to increase the health (in its broadest possible sense) of everyone everywhere.
This attitude might partially explain such popular liberal delusions as the necessity for mass immigration unconstrained by any vetting process, mandatory and prohibited speech to protect the feelings of trans lunatics, the well-being of islamo-fascists, the “rights” of criminals (who must be seen as victims of society), and so on.
Considered attentively and thoughtfully rather than with the eye of a 13 year old girl, these declarations are thoroughly totalitarian and ultimately destructive of civilization.
@aelfheld = elf hero?